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Thursday Thoughts

January 4, 2024

HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope your Advent and Christmas seasons have been a time of growing and reflection as well as a time for fun.

As we look to this new year, we often look for ways to improve ourselves. A Facebook friend reposted a list of ways he had found to do just that. I like this list and wanted to expand upon it a little as our first Thursday Thoughts of the year. Do with it as you wish but I thought the list simple yet complicated, all-encompassing yet very specific, faith-stretching, and a good guide to prayer.

1. Put God first. That means nothing else is more important than our relationship with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Not our children, our spouse, our life’s work, our possessions, or ourselves. God made that very clear as it is the first commandment. “You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3 This commandment should give us pause. What stands in the way of us having a deeper relationship with God? What is it that stands in the way of spending alone time with him? In my opinion, it is not that we don’t believe, it is that we don’t nurture that relationship. The business of living gets in the way and we rationalize that God loves us so it is okay that we don’t spend intentional time with him. What happens when we don’t nurture relationships? They dry up. Your most important relationships are ones that you put effort into. There is no more important relationship than your relationship with God.

2. Love one another. What would happen if the newscaster/opinion giver/entertainer came on the “news” show one evening and announced that from now on stories of hate, fear, derision, and division would be eliminated from the broadcast? What would be left? The weather? Good news stories are few and far between. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:7-8. Our world loves to spread fear, hate, and discord. It seems the goal of so many is to get us to hate one another, not love one another. What can we do from our position in the world to spread love? One pebble thrown into a pond won’t raise the level of the water. But dump truck loads of rocks dumped into the water will make it rise. What a difference it would make if all the individuals in every community of faith made a conscious effort to espouse love and not fear and discord. As a New Year reminder, find a small pebble and put it where you will see it each day to remind yourself that you are an important part of the kingdom's purpose of sharing love.

3. Never hate. So easy to say, so difficult to do. In 1 John 4:20 from The Message, “If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.” Why is it that so many hate those different from themselves? We are taught by Paul, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” Romans 12:9. Love requires action. We must demonstrate that we love rather than giving platitudes to convince ourselves and others that we do love. What can we do in 2024 to demonstrate love? It will cost something: time, energy, self-examination, money, expertise, and talents. It’s time to take a step forward in a new way to stop hate.

4. Give generously. The first thing that many think of is money. How tightly do we hold the purse to us? Are we like the savvy traveler who keeps their wallet close to their hearts to make it difficult for a pick-pocket to steal their money? Yes, of course, money is important to make ministry and mission work. Proverbs 21: 26b states, “the righteous give without sparing.” But giving is more than money. Why is it in churches, it is so difficult to get people to take positions on committees, boards, etc? That is a form of giving. How are we using our gifts and talents to help the Kingdom of God? Do you think we have those abilities just for our use? Everyone has something to give, not just money. Maybe in the new year, it is time to look at what and where you can be serving in the church, community, schools, etc to be of benefit to others.

5. Live simply. The internet makes it so easy to be a zealous consumer. We don’t even have to get out of our chairs to shop. The packages come right to the door. Impulse buying can be a real problem for some. This fall I needed a new pair of black boots since the “pleather” of my old pair peeled up the last time I wore them. I went to bed thinking about the boots, woke up in the night, and ordered the boots from the phone that was on the bedside table. The next morning I realized I had been sleep-shopping. Glad I didn’t go to bed thinking about a new car! We are a goods-driven society. Our homes are so full of stuff that we have to rent storage units to hold it all. When does our stuff become an idol? A good question for us as we look in closets, drawers, garages, barns, and buildings. When we live a more simple life, we have time to enjoy what we have and not be tied down to caring for or paying for them. When we are not tending to what we own, our time is freed up to be in service to others. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6: 19-21

6. Forgive quickly. Do you ever get mad? Of course, we all do. Anger is an emotion we all have felt. But there is a danger in anger. “Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive, forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.” Message, Ephesians 4:31-32. Have you seen what carrying a grudge can do? No doubt, you have seen cartoons where someone is pulling along a ball and chain. A grudge is like that. What must be like to have several of these attached to a leg, pulling it along? Jesus has given us the key to unlock that chain and be free forever from the weight. 

7. Pray every day. Prayer is a lifeline. Think of a diver underwater with the oxygen tanks on his/her back that provide life-giving oxygen. Without those tanks, the diver would die in a very short time. Prayer is essential for believers. “Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.”1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 The Message. “Pursue the Lord and his strength; seek his face always!” 1 Chronicles 16:11

In this new year, I hope these seven steps to a better life will be helpful to all of us as we walk this journey together.

Blessings,

Becky

Bridgewater UMC 

Making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world!  

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